Blooming More
by SamNny
Summary: And when Sayuri learned the truth about Mai, Sayuri couldn't help but feel that their friendship was blooming more.


"A/N: This story is written in Sayuri's POV, so she is the narrator. Also, this takes place while Yuichi is staying home from school to spend time with Makoto."

* * *

That day? Oh, yes, Sayuri remembers it very well. Sayuri could never forget a day like that. The day where Mai stepped up and proved to Sayuri and the rest of our high school that she was a hero. Well, Sayuri supposes that not everyone sees it that way, but how they could not was truly baffling. Mai's the reason they're all still alive, after all.

Yes, it started out like an ordinary day. Sayuri met up with Mai before class to talk and walk together. Sayuri did most of the talking, but that was fine: Mai was a great listener. We kept on talking until the bell rang and then went our separate ways to class. Then we met up for lunch, a little sad that Yuichi hadn't showed up. But Sayuri knew he was staying home from school, so Sayuri only made enough food for two.

Sayuri and Mai ate lunch like we would have without Yuichi and then it was time for class again. The day seemed to go by rather quickly for a Monday. But before Sayuri knew it, the final bell had rung. So Sayuri grabbed her school bag and waited for Mai to get out of class so she could walk home with Mai. And although Sayuri hadn't noticed it at the time, that was the moment Mai started acting strange.

Mai was quieter than normal. Her eyes were narrowed and she kept looking around, almost as if she was searching for someone. Her hands were balled into fists and she walked closer and closer to Sayuri. Her whole body tensed up as we walked, but Sayuri didn't notice anything until we got outside, when Mai stopped at the front doors. Sayuri tried to ask Mai what was wrong, but Mai told Sayuri to keep quiet. Sayuri did as she was told and watched as Mai looked around. Mai took a few steps out, looked around again, and then gasped. That's when it happened.

Out of nowhere, our school was being destroyed. Sayuri turned to see what was happening, but all Sayuri saw was nothing. Nothing was there, but everything was still being destroyed. The sidewalk was being torn up and the blocks of cement went flying. Light poles were being crashed into and knocked over. The front gate had been bulldozed through. But Sayuri could not stand there in awe forever. When Sayuri finally heard the other students screaming, Sayuri turned to find Mai.

But Mai was gone. She was no longer standing in the doorway and her school bag was lying on the ground. Sayuri began to panic and frantically looked around for any sign of Mai. But before too long, whatever had been attacking the school had quickly made it to the schools entrance, and Sayuri was standing in its way. Sayuri tried to run, but Sayuri felt trapped. Out of fear and instinct, Sayuri huddled closer to herself and cried out for help.

"Mai!"

That's when everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Sayuri knew, of course, that it wasn't. A small shadow hovered overhead for just a moment, before Sayuri looked up. Sayuri certainly was not expecting this to happen. The small shadow was Mai leaping from atop the roof. She had what appeared to be a giant sword and she wielded it over the invisible monster. As she swung her sword down, it made contact with the monster, and sparks seemed to fly. They were blue and very pretty, but Sayuri knew not to be amazed by that.

In fact, Sayuri was completely shocked. Sayuri couldn't move, Sayuri could only stand and watch. Questions ran through Sayuri's mind while the struggle dragged on. Where did Mai get that sword? Why does she have it? How can she see something that isn't there? Why is she fighting it? There were just so many things Sayuri wanted answers to all at once. But Sayuri could tell that this wasn't new to Mai. This was something Mai's been doing for awhile now, so Sayuri has to play it as cool as possible. If Sayuri jumps all over Mai or gets all worked up, it might hurt Mai's feelings.

But Sayuri could no longer focus on her thoughts as she watched Mai get tossed around. The monster flung the sword out of Mai's hands and sent Mai flying across the courtyard. Sayuri acted out of instinct again when she saw Mai get hurt, because Sayuri instantly took off running in Mai's direction. And even though Sayuri could not see the monster, Sayuri could see the sword, and maybe if Sayuri was fast enough, she could grab the sword and get it back to Mai. So Sayuri ran as fast as she could and pulled Mai's sword from the ground. It was a lot heavier than it looked.

When Sayuri looked over to check on Mai, she was slowly pushing herself back up. Sayuri called out to Mai just in time to see her face light up in horror. Because then... well, the monster got to Sayuri. It all happened so fast, but Sayuri remembers being hit by a very powerful force and having Sayuri's body sent crashing into the side of the school. Sadly, Sayuri dropped Mai's sword and couldn't get back up to retrieve it. A wave of pain suddenly fell over Sayuri and the next thing Sayuri remembers is gripping tightly to Sayuri's left shoulder. Sayuri's legs both hurt, too, but it wasn't as bad as Sayuri's shoulder.

Sayuri's eyes were glued shut for a long time, but Sayuri could hear everything that was still going on. Mai quickly rose to her feet and growled menacingly at the monster. Mai let out a fierce and quick scream and quickly charged at the monster. Sayuri thinks the monster tried to swing at Mai, because Sayuri heard Mai slide next to her and get up again. She ran for a little bit and then Sayuri heard metal clatter on the ground, knowing that Mai had picked up her sword. Then Mai just charged full speed at the monster.

Sayuri had finally managed to open her eyes again just in time to see Mai swing her sword left and right, hitting her target every time. Those blue sparks flew fast and with each collision of her sword, Mai swung harder. She just kept going at it until finally... it was over. Sayuri watched as Mai's sword finally sliced through the monster and the blue sparks flew everywhere. Then Sayuri saw Mai quickly running towards her and drop her sword. Mai rushed to Sayuri's side and gently sat Sayuri upright.

Sayuri blinked a few times, trying to find the right words to say, but nothing came. Mai looked over Sayuri's body for injuries, but all she found were some small scratches on Sayuri's legs and some bruising on Sayuri's hip, arm, and shoulder. So while Sayuri was being looked over, Sayuri tried to think of what to say to Mai. Sayuri was frightened and still in shock, but Sayuri was not afraid of Mai. No, Sayuri could never be afraid of Mai.

In times like these, Sayuri thinks the best thing to do is say whatever comes to mind first. Trying to find the right words to say would only seemed forced. Sayuri and Mai were better friends than that, so truth and honesty were the best policy. So when Mai grabbed Sayuri's shoulders and looked her in the eyes...

"Wow, Mai, you were amazing!"

Now it was Mai's turn to be shocked. The rest of the student body seemed to be either angry or scared. Sayuri is sure they are grateful to Mai for saving them, but Sayuri also had a sinking feeling that they also blamed Mai for that monster showing up. People looked at Mai with disgust, fear, awe, and some of them showed wonder and gratitude. But no matter what, Sayuri would never blame Mai for what happened.

"What did you say?"

Sayuri had to look at Mai again when she spoke. Sayuri blinked a few more times before smiling.

"Sayuri said that Mai was amazing. You saved Sayuri and the rest of the school!"

"I don't think they see it that way, and frankly, that wasn't what I was trying to do."

"Then what were you trying to do, Mai?"

"I was trying to kill that demon and keep it from breaking any more windows."

Sayuri had a moment of silence before completely bursting with laughter. Mai was taken aback by Sayuri's sudden outburst, but Sayuri couldn't control herself. In fact, Sayuri was laughing so hard that Sayuri started crying. Mai wiped away some of Sayuri's tears before grabbing Sayuri's good arm and helping her stand. Sayuri noticed how Mai's face softened and relaxed when she realized Sayuri wasn't scared or mad at her. Mai went back and grabbed both hers and Sayuri's school bag before getting ready to leave.

The other students all seemed to be frozen. Some of them looked like they wanted to run away from Mai, but they didn't because they were afraid she'd come after them. And some of them looked like they wanted to yell at her and get into a fight, but they were afraid of Mai's retaliation. No one seemed to understand how gentle Mai really was and Sayuri supposes that after today, they'll never believe it.

So Sayuri sighed. Sayuri knew tomorrow was going to be a rough day. Sayuri would have to go up against the student council and reason with them and hopefully convince them not to expel Mai. Sayuri would have to do her best to make sure Mai wasn't bullied, but Sayuri wasn't sure on how to do that yet. Hopefully Yuichi would be back soon and he would be able to help. But Sayuri had to wonder how all of this would be explained to him.

"Don't worry about it, Sayuri. Yuichi already knows."

It wasn't really that surprising that Mai could read Sayuri like an open book. Mai was Sayuri's best friend, after all.

* * *

"A/N: I don't know what it is, but I absolutely adore Sayuri. She was my favorite Kanon character followed by Mai and Nayuki. I noticed that there were no stories for her and I immediately had to write one for her and Mai. I know that if this had happened in the series, it would have altered Mai's story, and I'm kind of thinking that either Yuichi wouldn't have been able to remember her and then save her or he would have come too late. That's also why I don't plan on expanding more on this story xD. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot. This is my first Kanon story and I'm hoping I did a good job keeping everyone in character. So please let me know what you thought in a review. I hope to write more for Kanon in the future!"


End file.
